Residents of Moldova vote in the second round of presidential elections. But voter fraud threatens its democracy

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Octavian Tiku is a Moldovan historian and politician remembers when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, a seismic event that allowed him to become one of the first amateur boxers to fight for his country at the pinnacle of his sport: the Olympics.

“It was a happy moment for me,” the 52-year-old recalls, clenching his fists in a boxing gym in the capital, Chisinau. “In 1996, I participated in the Olympics in Atlanta. … If I had been in the Soviet Union, I would never have achieved this.”

But today, more than three decades after independence, Moldova Russia is targeting a hybrid war of propaganda and disinformation that is “wreaking havoc,” Thicke, a lightweight, told the Associated Press.

Like Ukraine and Georgia, the former Soviet republic seeks to join the European Union but got into a constant geopolitical tug-of-war between Moscow and the West.

“Russian propaganda is the reality of 30 years of independence,” added Tiku, who has written several books on his country’s history.

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This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series on threats to democracy in Europe.

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At the nationwide referendum on October 20, Moldovans voted by a small majority of 50.35% ensuring the path to EU membership. But the result was overshadowed by allegations of a Moscow-backed vote-buying scheme.

In a presidential elections were held on the same daythe pro-Western incumbent, Maia Sandu, received 42% of the vote but fell short of an absolute majority. On Sunday, she will face Russia-friendly former attorney general Oleksandr Stoyanoglo in a runoff that is seen as a choice between geopolitical opposites — again.

As with the EU referendum, a poll released this week by research firm iData points to a tight race on Sunday that is tipped for a narrow victory for Sandu, an outcome that could hinge on Moldova’s large diaspora.

The role of the president includes significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security.

After two votes in October, Moldovan law enforcement said the vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who now lives in Russia and was convicted in absentia in 2023 fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say $39 million was paid to more than 130,000 voters through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank between September and October. Shore has pleaded not guilty.

“These people who go to Moscow, to the so-called government-in-exile of Ilan Shor, who come with very large sums of money, remain free,” said Tiku, who ran as a promising candidate in the election. presidential race.

It was “obvious”, Tiku added, that the vote “was not going to be fair or democratic”. Out of 11 candidates in the first round, he was the only one who supported Sanda in the second round.

Voters from the Kremlin-friendly separatist region of Transnistria, which declared independence after a brief war in the early 1990s, can vote in Moldova itself. Transnistria was a a source of tension during the war in neighboring Ukraine, especially because there is a military base with 1,500 Russian troops.

Tiku warned that if Russian troops reach Ukraine the port city of Odesathey can “join the Transnistrian region, and then the Republic of Moldova will be occupied.”

In Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted for the EU, a doctor was detained after allegedly forcing 25 residents of a nursing home to vote for a candidate they did not choose. Police said they had obtained “compelling evidence,” including financial transfers from the same Russian bank that was targeted by sanctions.

Anti-corruption authorities conducted hundreds of raids and seized more than $2.7 million (€2.5 million) in cash during the crackdown.

On Thursday, prosecutors raided the headquarters of a political party and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to choose a candidate in the presidential race. Criminal proceedings have also been opened against 40 employees of state bodies on suspicion of receiving election bribes.

Instead of receiving the overwhelming support that Sandu had hoped for, the results in both races showed that Moldova’s judicial system is unable to adequately protect democratic process. It also allowed some of the pro-Moscow opposition to question the validity of the votes.

Igor Dodon, the leader of the Socialist Party and a former president with close ties to Russia, said this week that “we do not recognize” the results of the referendum and called Sanda a “dictator in a skirt” who would “do anything.” stay in power.”